how silly are we

did you know smiles smell
oh yes, some of popcorn and jelly beans
some of fried chicken and champagne
stale ice
coach’s tobacco or a step-father’s cock
the stink of life
jutting up through everybody’s teeth
like there’s something bubbled in the gut
and it just won’t pass

survey for the damned

can you outlast the pelting

can you escape the tar

can you endure being sketched—
sit while the old man
drags coal across your page